Senate Democrats announce priority legislation

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 by Terra Goodnight

Nina Turner discusses new voting legislation

Democrats in the Ohio Senate were the first out of the gate to unveil their list of priority legislation, holding a press conference today in Columbus to promote bills they will be introducing in the 130th General Assembly.

Emphasizing a focus on job creation, among the priority bills the cause will roll out are:

Election Protection (Turner). Would make a number of changes to laws and authority of the Secretary of State that hinder access to voting. Would set a minimum number and variety of hours for early voting (weekdays, evenings, weekends).

Veterans Opportunity (Gentile). Will assist veterans making the transition into the workplace by awarding college credit for military training and linking employers with skilled veterans.

Education Funding (Sawyer). The bill would gradually phase down what school districts would be required to raise to 20 mills and require the General Assembly to determine and fund what’s necessary for a thorough and efficient education.

Summer Food Program (Brown). Requires schools with > 50% of students eligible for meal assistance to be designated as locations for the summer meal program. Also changes laws about food on school buses to allows them to serve as mobile food distribution sites.

Family Stability (Tavares). Creates the Family Stability Commission to look at ways to ensure children grow up in healthy homes. Will examine policy to encourage to creation and preservation of stable family units.

The three other legislative caucuses – Republicans from both Chambers as well as the House Democrats – will follow up with similar announcements in the coming days.